Catching up again...

It's ages again since I posted, and it's not that I didn't have lots to post about.  

Mum passed away peacefully on July 24 at aged 97.  

Mum
May 5 1916 - July 24 2013

 At the family gathering we organized a week afterwards, six of her eight grandchildren and all eleven of the great grandchildren were present.  Trying to get a photo of eleven kids between the ages of one to  twelve was a feat in itself.         I was hoping to have a photo of the whole group, but so far no luck!

A few weeks later I accompanied my sister Helena back to her home in New York.  We had a good time discovering the Fashion District in Manhattan where we found some gorgeous trim and fabric.  I came back home with a suitcase full of goodies, many of which have found their way into my crazy quilt kits that I sell on E-Bay.

For the fourth year I travelled out west to the CQI Retreat in Colorado.  We all have a great time and get to see some wonderful work "in person", so much more exquisite in reality.   Next year's will be in Kansas City.

Here are some photos of our weather a week or so ago.   Just before Christmas we had a devastating freezing rain storm which created a coating of ice on everything, and especially the trees.  Many of the tree limbs fell off with the weight of the ice, landed on power lines and cut off electricity to hundreds of thousands of homes.  I was pretty lucky, only without electricity and heat for 13 hours, but on the other end was my daughter who's home had no electricity of 6 days.  There's no doubt that it was a beautiful sight, a sparkling wonderland, but as the last photo shows, hugely damaging to out lovely old trees. 

I try to bake the birthday cakes for my grandchildren, and since Lauren's in May, there has been Emily's 3rd in June, Elijah's 4th in October, Caleb's 7th and Brynn's 5th in November and Josh's 6th in December.  

Caleb & Brynn (below) are my two grandchildren from Quebec, a 3hour train ride (with cakes in tow).

Brynn asked for pink rosebud cake, there are rosebuds around the base, but the main event is the 6" open rose on the top.  Don't ask how many petals!

On the sewing front I found this cute pattern on Etsy and made another little smock for my great niece Hillary.  You can see the chicken scratch heart on the front.

Emily in the Matheson tartan.

OI found a cute pair of rainbow striped tights for Lauren and made a black velvet dress to go with it for Christmas.  

And made one to match in a deep violet for Emily.  I also sewed up a little apron for her.  

 On the other sewing front I've had a crazy quilt class at the local artsy quilt shop Art of Fabric. I had seven students in the last session, three were completely new to cq and they learned how to piece a block and do basic embroidery stitches.  In the four 3-hour sessions I also gave them a taste of silk ribbon embroidery and beading.  The remaining students had been to most of the previous classes and were happy to learn new techniques or get on with their projects.  I'm loving it, especially as I am finding some of them as excited as I was when I discovered CQ.

I'm looking forward to 2014 and wish you all a Happy, Healthy and Prosperous New Year!